House Ways and Means Committee members Dave Reichert (R-WA), Ron Kind (D-WI), Charles Boustany (R-LA), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Erik Paulsen (R-MN), and Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) introduced legislation designed to spur more employee-ownership in private industry.

On the heels of data showing that employee stock ownership plans, or "ESOPs," have been remarkably effective in helping private companies grow and expand jobs and enabling employee-owners to amass retirement savings, the bipartisan group of Ways & Means Committee members put forth a measure to allow more S corporation business owners to transfer ownership to their employees and help more companies get information about how to become an ESOP-owned S corporation.

The Promotion and Expansion of Private Employee Ownership Act of 2011 (H.R. 1244) eliminates barriers that a business and its owners currently face in establishing a new S corporation ESOP or expanding the employee-ownership stake in an S corporation. Congress created the S corporation ESOP structure to encourage and expand retirement savings, giving more workers in private companies the chance to own their companies through an ESOP qualified retirement savings program.